Thank The Fates for First Times
by from-Wonderland-to-Underland
Summary: A retelling of when Alice first met the Mad Hatter and his merry party. Keep in mind this is the very very young Alice.


A scream tore from my lip's as I fell down the rabbit hole. One moment I was laying against the truck of my favorite tree where father used to play with me, then the next I was falling head over heels down a rabbit hole that seemingly came out of nowhere. Different things flew by me as I fell down what seemed like a never-ending void. A piano seemed to float in mid-air, books zipped by like sparrows on the evening breeze, chess pieces and cards swirled around each other in an intricate dance of swords and spears, but there was one thing that stood out among everything else.

A beautiful porcelain doll seemed to float down with me as I fell at an alarming speed as if something were holding it there. Her hair was as pure as snow and her lips were the same color as a black cherry. Her skin was pale like freshly fallen snow and her eyes were a deep warm brown. In a word, she was beautiful. Jealousy panged in my chest. How I wished to beautiful like her. She was beautiful enough to be a queen in her ivory dress. My thoughts about the doll were cut short as I suddenly hit the floor. The pain that I thought would come never did and I was grateful. The Ivory doll had landed near me and I quickly scooped it up, I would show it to mother when I got home.

Curiously, I glanced around to see what I had landed on only to discover that I was surrounded by doors, so many doors! I let my eyes wander around the room, hoping to find something that might tell me where I was. I found nothing but a small table draped with lace. The table before me held a key, a small vial of blue colored liquid and, to my utter delight, a small cake! Happily, I shoved the small cake into my mouth. It had a rather funny taste,

it made my body tingle in the most curious way. Suddenly, everything around me began to shrink, my clothes started to feel as though they were too small. A giggle erupted from my mouth as my head touched the ceiling. I was gigantic! All the things that I could do began to swirl around in my head, _'I can reach the top shelf where mother hides the sweets, I can chase Hamish...Or squish him! So many new things!'_ I squealed with delight but I was curious about what that little bottle could do. Quickly, I snatched the bottle from the table and drank the entirety of its contents. Suddenly, everything got so much bigger! In my downward decent I hit the table. The key flipped to the ground. Before growing and shrinking, the key would have been no bigger than my pinkie finger, but now it was the size on my hand! I surveyed the room and found a door just my size. It was liking playing dolls! Giggling as I went, I unlocked the tiny door, bursting into a colorful world that I had never seen before! With the doll still clutched to my chest, I ran out into the colorful world before me, giggling all the way.  
In front of me, there was a garden of gigantic flowers, they were as tall as buildings compared to me, but they didn't frighten me. How could something beautiful possibly cause me any harm? I walked cheerfully through the garden of flowers, a smile resting on my face. Never before in my life had I seen such a variety of different flowers. A pink rose bent to inspect me as I walked past, I nearly fell on my rump as her petaled face curled into a smile, "Hello there deary, are you lost?" She inquired kindly. Was I lost? I had no idea.

"No ma'am! I don't know where we're going but I know we aren't lost yet," My face split into a grin as I held up my new doll. The Rose smiled and nodded her head as if she understood perfectly, "Thank you, but I'll be on my way now. Bye bye!" I waved as I took off down the only path I could see. Soon enough, more lovely flower people bowed down to ask me if I needed help, which I didn't! I was old enough to figure things out my own, mother even said so! Eventually, fields and fields of colorful flowers gave way to woods that seemed to be shrouded in purple fog. I reluctantly crept forward, fear gripped my heart, I was gripping the doll in an effort to comfort myself. Just before I entered the woods a grey cat with lovely teal eyes and stripes appeared before me, grinning like a fool.

"Why hello there, little girl. What is your name," the cat purred as he floated around my head. I had never met a cat that could talk before! I smiled eagerly at the floating feline, "I'm Alice! Who are you? I have never met a cat that could talk before!" My eyes widened in curiosity. The cat's smile seemed to widen as if it were even possible.

"I am the Cheshire cat but you may call me Chess like my friends do," Chess laughed as if what I had said was a joke, but I didn't mind. He had said we were friends! Giddiness just about overtook me, but then Chess began to float away. I frowned, not at all pleased with my new friend leaving before we had had the chance to play. Following him as quickly as I could, I asked where he was off to.

"The Mad Hatter's tea party of course! You, my dear, are more than welcome to join us." Chess gestured farther down the path and I skipped ahead, ready to make even more new friends. After a while of walking, we came to a broke windmill which was surrounded by a beautiful garden of flowers of every type, shape, and size! A thought occurred to me, could these flowers talk as well? I decided I would find out later. The tea table in front of me was gigantic just like everything else as I was still the size of a mouse. Chess floated above the table and I could faintly hear him whisper something to the man at the head of the table.  
The man was rather funny looking. He had orange curly hair that stuck out from beneath his outrageous top hat. His jacket and pants were an odd shade of forest green and an arsenal of spools of thread decorated his front along with an ascot covered in tiny teapots and cups upon the black fabric. His waistcoat was almost as orange as his hair. He was almost as pale as my doll, maybe even paler! Blue and purple surrounded his eyes and pink defined his already noticeable cheekbones. Pink dominated him lips which framed a gapped tooth smile. But his eyes were a most hypnotic green, a green that I found myself unable to look away from. For some reason, I found myself already quite fond of whom I assumed was the Mad Hatter judging from the hysterical laughter that burbled forth from him, though he was not alone. A brown hare dressed in a tattered waistcoat was giggling most obnoxiously and throwing grapes at a mouse dressed in a red tunic across the table. The mouse would run them through with its sword and then hold it up for all to see and fall into rampant fits of laughter with the hare. Chess, however, floated above them all with a content smile resting on his furry face. After a while of watching, I cleared my throat and called out for Chess. Chess was startled at first but recovered quickly.

"Could you place me on the table please?" Chess picked me up gently in his paws and set me down on top of a yellow teapot. Suddenly, all eyes were on me, "Hello, I'm Alice. Who might you be?" Before I was given an answer, the Hatter stood from his chair and jumped onto the table, practically running down its length to crouch before me. His eyes were focusing on me intently but there was nothing hostile about it.

"What did you say your name was?" The lisp in his voice made me smile. He smiled at me, offering a hand stained with mercury, which I gracefully stepped onto.

"Alice, my name is Alice, but you still have to tell me who you are." Hatter smiled and me and turned to face the Hare, "That is Thackery or the March Hare, whichever suits you is fine and that," Hatter whirled to the other side of the table, "is Mallyumkin or Mally for short. I am Tarrant Hightopp but you may call me Mad Hatter if you like." Hatter tipped his hat to me and I curtsied to him. Hatter's large orange eyebrows came together in thought.

"You're much too small, Alice. Drink this." Hatter pulled a tiny bottle from the breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to me. I took a sip and stepped off Hatter's hand and onto the ground when I was close enough not to fall. Soon enough I was back to my normal height. I smiled, nodded my thanks to the Hatter, and jumped into the chair to his right and placed my doll on the chair next to me. "That is much better," Hatter mused as he poured me a cup of tea. I was about to pick up my cup when Hatter pushed me further down in my chair. I was about to voice my displeasure when a teacup flew mere inches above my head and into the garden somewhere.

"Thackery! Careful now, we have a guest after all!" Hatter tried in vain to sound stern as a bout of giggles broke free. Thackery and Mally laughed, falling back in their chairs. Hatter clapped his hands merrily and glanced my way. When I saw how cheery his face was, I couldn't help laughing. Instantly, my hands were over my mouth to quiet my laughter but Hatter shook his head playfully as he calmed himself. An idea struck me. Silently, I gulped down my tea and reeled back my arm. With a loud giggle, I launched my teacup at the still laughing Hare farther down the table. Just before the cup collided with his head, Thackery ducked and grabbed a scone from the many different goodies that covered the table and sent it flying towards my head. Laughing, I ducked and threw a biscuit at Mally. Mally retorted by throwing a grape at me. Our food fight ensued for a while and then I threw a scone at Hatter, which he easily avoided. The sounded of hysterical laughter got louder as Hatter proceeded to get up from his chair and chase me around the table, I had already gotten up and made it halfway around before he even left his chair. Even though he had longer legs, he was no match for me. For a while, I had the lead but Hatter jumped up on the table again, dodging teacups, fruit, and scones while making his way to me. I froze and let out a delighted scream before crawling under the table in hopes of avoiding him. My escape was short lived as I came face to face with a smiling Hatter at the other end. Before I could turn around and get away, Hatter had scooped me up into his arms and spun me about just like my father used to do. We laughed until our sides hurt and he had to set me down. Never before had I been this happy since my father passed. I felt at home! These totally mad people were more accepting than anyone had ever been. They didn't demand me to be proper as mother did!

"Hatter! Guess what!" Hatter turned to me with his eyebrows raised, "You're totally mad aren't you?"

"And how did you guess that, lassie?" A gentle smile played at his lips.

"Because the best people are! You and Mally and Thackery, you're the best. So you have to be!" Hatter beamed brightly at me, laughing merrily. This by far was the best tea party I had ever been to.


End file.
